I HATE the First Day of School!

Tomorrow will be Friday…TGIF right! The end of the second week of school,, and as much as I love Friday because it is the end of the week, and Friday Night Football, that isn’t what this post is about. Today I am writing about why I HATE the first day of school, but it isn’t for the reasons you may expect. Sure, I’m bummed because summer is over, and my alarm clock that I haven’t had to set for 2 months is ringing. I had to pack lunches for my kids and myself…ugg! Oh, and wear pants….I hate wearing pants. No that isn’t why I HATE the first day of school. I hate it because I have to talk to much. I have to tell them where to line up after recess, where to find the bathroom, turn in notes, make their lunch choice, what their number is, how to log into drive, and even what my name is….no it isn’t “teacher”. Although that is necessary at the beginning of the year, it doesn’t need to continue. Teachers talk TOO MUCH! I pride myself on letting my students do as much of the talking as I can. I want them to learn from each other and figure it out. I empower my students to take charge of their learning, give them choice, the basics, then they go do it. As I sit here reflecting on the end of the second week, my kids are doing that already. They are asking their neighbors for help, trying, failing….and being ok with it. They are working independently, making good choices. I feel like the first day of school was years ago. How far they have come in eight days of school. It makes me proud! So teachers, I encourage you to abandon the “sit and get” model. Classrooms shouldn’t be silent. Let the kids talk, learn, fail, because then they can succeed, and exceed our expectations.

2 thoughts on “I HATE the First Day of School!”

That was really funny! This year when I asked my kids what they learned on the first day, one of them said, “I learned that my teacher can sure talk a lot.” Thankfully it was indeed mainly giving start of the year instructions on expectations and such.